Magically Organized

Yesterday we visited an exhibit on Harry Potter. I was thrilled.
I'd been a big fan ever since the first book came out (until the fifth, when it got too dark for me), and the movies just added to the...uh...'enchantment'.
Yup, the exhibit displayed most of the major props and costumes from the film.

However, I wasn't in the kind of mood fan girls will find themselves in, "OMYGOSHHETOUCHED!THISSHIRTHARRYPOTTERWORETHIS!!!OHIWANTTOSTEALITSOBAD." I wasn't exactly kissing the ground here. Quite frankly, the actors and set designers would have seen this stuff everyday and thought nothing of it.
No, I was thrilled because it made me want so bad to be a part of something that influenced so many people and that must of been so fun to create.

Harry Potter will be forever be a part of every writer's ambition. The story of a waitress starting a world-wide phenomenon on a paper napkin is magical in itself.

Just one problem...J.K. Rowling is a lot better at writing than me.

See, I started as a novice and continue to be one today. I made two major mistakes: having too many important characters, and starting without a plot. Even now, I only have a few scenes here and there in my mind, no connection, and a very undeveloped climax.

Ooops.

Word of advice to people who think this okay, that as long as it's mostly in your mind, then you can churn out a full novel with little difficulty: DON'T! NO! DO NOT DO IT!

If I ever want to be a part of a major film industry (Maybe someday :P) then I've got to have a plan.

To make a long story short (too late!) I've decided, once again, to get myself organized. I had already made several ugly cuecards (four cut out of a large cuecard) with major scenes written on them, and taped them onto a few pieces of printer paper.

This didn't work so well, paper is so small everything has to be linear. I've got several characters who go different places and do different things. This means that there are several plots that branch off, meet, and generally go all over the place.

Too make an even longer story shorter (too late!), I've got an entire wall in my room covered with many cue cards that are connected and seperated by lines of colored chalk. Yes, it is ugly (you've got to make sacrifices for your art), but it helps. It's a lot easier to see all my gaping holes now.

I started with the 21 scenes that make up the story I know so far. I then wrote down as many scenes as I could remember from the couple years they've been forming in my mind. That makes up 54 cards for the entire trilogy. I am an environmental disaster.

So, today's work is done. And maybe I'm that much closer to getting half as far as Rowling. Maybe I'll have my own exhibition someday (it pays to dream big!)

-Remake